Buffalo Sabres vs Dallas Stars

Regular season · Wednesday, December 31, 2025 · American Airlines Center

BuffaloSabresAway

4–1

Final

SOG 31–29

DallasStarsHome

Victory+ · MSG-B

Game summary

The Buffalo Sabres beat the Dallas Stars 4-1 on Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at American Airlines Center. The Sabres outshot the Stars 31-29.

Tage Thompson scored twice. Mavrik Bourque, Josh Doan and Bowen Byram also scored.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves on 29 shots for the win; Casey DeSmith stopped 27 of 31.

Goals	1st	2nd	3rd	T	SOG
BUF	0	2	2	4	31
DAL	1	0	0	1	29

Three stars

Scoring

1st period

Mavrik Bourque (6)Jason Robertson (23), Miro Heiskanen (28)0–100:15 DAL

2nd period

Josh Doan (11)Tage Thompson (17)Duchene 2:05 into shift1–107:44 BUF
Bowen Byram (9)Noah Ostlund (4), Alex Tuch (20)Lundkvist 1:02 into shift2–117:05 BUF

3rd period

Tage Thompson (19)Josh Doan (15), Bowen Byram (11)Johnston 1:05 into shift3–109:21 BUF
Tage Thompson (20)Noah Ostlund (5), Owen Power (8)4–111:35 BUF

Tired legs

Seconds into the shift for every skater on the ice at each goal. Taller bar, longer shift.

0–20s20–40s40–60s60–80s80s+

2:05

1–1 · 2nd 7:44 · Doan. Duchene was 2:05 into his shift when it went in.

GoalBUF on iceDAL on iceDefenders’ longest

0–1 DAL

1st 0:15 · Bourque

Tuch 0:15

Fresh legsTuch 0:15

1–1 BUF

2nd 7:44 · Doan

Stuck out there: Duchene 2:05

Stuck out thereDuchene 2:05

2–1 BUF

2nd 17:05 · Byram

Long shift: Lundkvist 1:02

Long shiftLundkvist 1:02

3–1 BUF

3rd 9:21 · Thompson

Long shift: Johnston 1:05

Long shiftJohnston 1:05

4–1 BUF

3rd 11:35 · Thompson

Harley 0:59

NormalHarley 0:59

Hover or tap a bar for the skater.

Across the league. Share of 5v5 unblocked shots that went in, by how far into his shift the defending team’s longest-serving skater was (2025–26).

3.9%

5.8%

6.5%

7.1%

7.3%

0–20s20–40s40–60s60–80s80s+

1.9×

Shots against a skater 80s+ into his shift go in 1.9 times as often as against fresh legs (7.3% vs 3.9%).

30%

of 5v5 goals came with a defender 60s+ into his shift.

Team stats

BUFDAL

31Shots on goal29

58%Faceoff %42%

0/2Power play0/2

4Penalty minutes4

24Hits15

9Blocked shots12

14Giveaways12

4Takeaways3

Penalties

1st 00:38Radek Faksa · high sticking2 min
2nd 01:41Justin Hryckowian · tripping2 min
2nd 04:44Josh Doan · tripping2 min
3rd 03:59Tage Thompson · hooking2 min

Season series

Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres skaters

72Tage ThompsonC	2	1	3	+3	7	1	0	2	45	18:45
86Noah OstlundC	0	2	2	+1	0	0	1	0	67	12:56
91Josh DoanR	1	1	2	+2	3	4	0	2	–	15:27
4Bowen ByramD	1	1	2	+3	2	3	1	0	–	24:36
89Alex TuchR	0	1	1	+1	2	1	1	0	100	18:21
25Owen PowerD	0	1	1	+1	0	0	1	0	–	24:12
6Zach BensonL	0	0	0	+1	1	0	1	0	–	16:11
9Josh NorrisC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	62	13:07
12Jordan GreenwayL	0	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	–	12:28
19Peyton KrebsC	0	0	0	+1	2	2	0	0	–	13:59
22Jack QuinnR	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	–	15:21
29Beck MalenstynL	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	–	13:36
44Josh DunneC	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	33	11:15
71Ryan McLeodC	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	83	16:35
8Michael KesselringD	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	–	12:04
23Mattias SamuelssonD	0	0	0	+1	3	1	2	0	–	22:56
26Rasmus DahlinD	0	0	0	+1	5	0	0	0	–	24:43
73Zach MetsaD	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	–	09:28

Buffalo Sabres goalies
Goalie	DEC	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
1Ukko-Pekka LuukkonenG	W	29	28	1	.966	60:00
92Colten EllisG		0	0	0	–	00:00

Dallas Stars

Dallas Stars skaters

21Jason RobertsonL	0	1	1	+1	8	0	0	0	–	21:16
22Mavrik BourqueC	1	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	–	15:17
4Miro HeiskanenD	0	1	1	-1	2	0	1	0	–	24:50
10Oskar BäckC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	–	12:54
12Radek FaksaC	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	2	60	12:33
14Jamie BennL	0	0	0	-1	0	0	2	0	–	11:27
15Colin BlackwellC	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	38	12:33
18Sam SteelC	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	29	13:17
24Roope HintzC	0	0	0	+1	1	1	0	0	53	16:32
49Justin HryckowianC	0	0	0	-1	0	1	1	2	–	10:10
53Wyatt JohnstonC	0	0	0	-3	1	1	1	0	43	16:59
95Matt DucheneC	0	0	0	-4	1	0	0	0	50	15:43
96Mikko RantanenR	0	0	0	-2	1	1	0	0	–	20:36
5Nils LundkvistD	0	0	0	-1	1	2	1	0	–	15:53
23Esa LindellD	0	0	0	+1	1	0	1	0	–	22:58
28Alexander PetrovicD	0	0	0	-1	1	4	2	0	–	13:27
46Ilya LyubushkinD	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	–	16:37
55Thomas HarleyD	0	0	0	-4	2	1	1	0	–	22:58

Dallas Stars goalies
Goalie	DEC	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
1Casey DeSmithG	L	31	27	4	.871	60:00
29Jake OettingerG		0	0	0	–	00:00